To Kenneth Lieberthal, one of the top China hands in the United States, the government work report delivered by Premier Li Keqiang at the opening session of the National People's Congress on Wednesday reaffirmed goals that have already been set.

"The message is that the Third Plenum goals are serious. We will move ahead on that," said Lieberthal, a senior fellow in foreign policy and global economy and development at the Brookings Institution.

He was referring to the economic and social reform goals rolled out by the Third Plenum of the 18th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China in November.